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Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Lake Okeechobee, Florida

Lake Okeechobee is a gigantic fresh water lake in the middle of Florida. It's clearly visible on any state map since its 730 square-mile size covers an area half the size of Rhode Island. The lake is not so visible from the highways and roads around it. Dikes were constructed after two hurricanes devastated the area in the 1920s. We drove to the top of one of the dikes to enjoy the views. All of the parking lots are by marinas, so we had a good view of people's boats.

Boats ready to sail the Okeechobee

Some empty docks

The lake is populated with a variety of wild life. Manatees, alligators, and various fish swim in the lake. Manatees like the shore area but we didn't see any. Alligators sun themselves on the shoreline but we didn't see any. People fish off the piers but we didn't see any catches (and hardly any fishermen though there were plenty of poles out).

Beware the manatee!

Alligator-free shoreline

Fishing lines with not enough people!

The lake is impressive in size, with no shore appearing on the horizon. On the other hand, it isn't very deep. The average depth is nine feet, rendering it unnavigable by larger boats.

We had a quick picnic lunch on the dock and were on our way to further adventures in Florida.